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What is an Array?

An array is a collection of items of the same variable type stored that are stored

at contiguous memor y locations. It ’s one of the most popular and simple data

structures and is often used to implement other data structures. Each item in

an array is indexed star ting with 0.

The dream of ever y programmer is to become not just a good, but also a great

programmer. We all want to achieve our goals and to achieve our goals, we must have

a great plan with us. In this context, we have decided to provide a complete guide for

Arrays inter view preparation, which will help you to tackle the problems that are

mostly asked in the inter view, such as What is an Array, What is Array in C language,

How do you initialize an Array in C, How to sor t an Array, etc. We have also covered

the topic s such as Top Theoretical inter view questions and Top inter view coding

questions in this complete guide for Array inter view preparation.

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Complete guide for Arrays inter view preparation

We can directly access an array element by using its index value.

Basic terminologies of array

Array Index : In an array, elements are identified by their indexes. Array index

star ts from 0.

Array element : Elements are items stored in an array and can be accessed by their

index.

Array Length: The length of an array is determined by the number of elements it

can contain.

Representation of Array

The representation of an array can be defined by its declaration. A declaration means

allocating memor y for an array of a given size.

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Array

Arrays can be declared in various ways in different languages. For better illustration,

below are some language-specific array declarations.

C++

int arr[5]; // This array will store integer type element

char arr[10]; // This array will store char type element
float arr[20]; // This array will store float type element

int arr[5]; // This array will store integer type element

char arr[10]; // This array will store char type element
float arr[20]; // This array will store float type element

Java

/* Static Arrays are arrays that are declared before runtime

and are assigned values while writing the code.
*/

// The syntax of declaring a static array is:

<data type><variable name>[]
= {<data1>, <data2>,…..<dataN> };

// Example:
int arr[] = { 2, 5, 6, 9, 7, 4, 3 };

C#

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int[] arr = new that int[5]; // This array will store integer type element
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Javascript

// JS code
let arr=[10,20,30]; // This array will store integer
let arr2 = ['c', 'd', 'e'] // This array will store characters
let arr3 = [28.5, 36.5, 40.2] // This array will store floating elements

P ython

# Python code
arr = [10, 20, 30] # This array will store integer
arr2 = ['c', 'd', 'e'] # This array will store characters
arr3 = [28.5, 36.5, 40.2] # This array will store floating elements

Array declaration

However, the above declaration is static or compile-time memor y allocation, which

means that the array element ’s memor y is allocated when a program is compiled.

Here only a fixed size (i,e. the size that is mentioned in square brackets []) of memor y

will be allocated for storage, but don’t you think it will not be the same situation as we

know the size of the array ever y time, there might be a case where we don’t know the

size of the array. If we declare a larger size and store a lesser number of elements will

result in a wastage of memor y or either be a case where we declare a lesser size then

we won’t get enough memor y to store the rest of the elements. In such cases, static

memor y allocation is not preferred.

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Is it possible to create dynamic array?

The answer is Yes. It is possible to allocate memor y dynamically. So, dynamic

memor y allocation is the process of assigning the memor y space during the

execution time or the run time.

Below are the languages that suppor t dynamic memor y allocation:

C++

int *array = new int[5];

Java

// The syntax of declaring a dynamic array is:

// <data type> <variable name> [ <Total Number of elements to be stored in array>

// Example:
int arr[10]; // Store integer elements
String arr[5]; // Store String type of elements

P ython3

# list of integers
my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4]

# Empty list
my_list = []

# list of mixed data types

my_list = ["Hello", 1, 5.5]

C#

int[]
We numArray
use cookies = new
to ensure int[]
you have {};
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Javascript

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// JavaScript has dynamic arrays: their size is not predetermined, nor the type o

// Create array using literal

var x = ["a", "b", "c"];

// Create array using constructor

var x = new Array();

// Create array using constructor with items

var y = new Array("a", "b", "c");

PHP

$arr = array("a","b","c");

Why Array Data Structures is needed?

A ssume there is a class of five students and if we have to keep records of their marks

in examination then, we can do this by declaring five variables individual and keeping

track of records but what if the number of students becomes ver y large, it would be

challenging to manipulate and maintain the data.

What it means is that, we can use normal variables (v1, v2, v3, ..) when we have a

small number of objects. But if we want to store a large number of instances, it

becomes difficult to manage them with normal variables. The idea of an array is to

represent many instances in one variable..

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Need for Array

Types of arrays :

There are majorly two types of arrays:

One-dimensional array (1-D arrays): You can imagine a 1d array as a row, where

elements are stored one af ter another.

1D array

Two-dimensional array: 2-D Multidimensional arrays can be considered as an

array of arrays or as a matrix consisting of rows and columns.

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2D array

Three-dimensional array: A 3-D Multidimensional array contains three

dimensions, so it can be considered an array of two-dimensional arrays.

3D array

Types of Array operations :

Traversal: Traverse through the elements of an array.

Inser tion: Inser ting a new element in an array.

Deletion: Deleting element from the array.

Searching: Search for an element in the array.

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Sor ting: Maintaining the order of elements in the array.
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Advantages of using Arrays :

Arrays allow random access to elements. This makes accessing elements by

position faster.

Arrays have better cache locality which makes a pretty big difference in

per formance.

Arrays represent multiple data items of the same type using a single name.

Arrays store multiple data of similar types with the same name.

Array data structures are used to implement the other data structures like linked

lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, etc.

Disadvantages of Array:

A s arrays have a fixed size, once the memor y is allocated to them, it cannot be

increased or decreased, making it impossible to store extra data if required. An

array of fixed size is referred to as a static array.

Allocating less memor y than required to an array leads to loss of data.

An array is homogeneous in nature so, a single array cannot store values of

different data types.

Arrays store data in contiguous memor y locations, which makes deletion and

inser tion ver y difficult to implement. This problem is overcome by implementing

linked lists, which allow elements to be accessed sequentially.

Application of Array:

They are used in the implementation of other data structures such as array lists,

heaps, hash tables, vectors, and matrices.

Database records are usually implemented as arrays.

It is used in lookup tables by computer.

It is used for different sor ting algorithms such as bubble sor t inser tion sor t, merge

sor t, and quick sor t.

Top theoretical inter view questions

S.no Question Answer

1 What will happen if you do not initialize an Array? View

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2 Why is the complexity of fetching a value from an array be O(1) View

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S.no Question Answer

3 When should you use an Array over a List? View

4 What is a circularly sor ted array? View

5 Comparing two arrays using hashmap? View

6 “ What are the advantages of a linked list over an array? In which View

scenarios do

we use LinkedList and when Array? ”

7 How do I iterate rows and columns of a multidimensional array? View

8 What is meant by Sparse Array? View

9 What are the benefits of Heap over Sor ted Arrays? View

10 Is there any difference between int[] a and int a[]? View

11 Can we declare array size as a negative number? View

12 We know that Arrays are objects so why cannot we write View

strArray.length()?

13 What are the advantages of Sor ted Arrays? View

14 What defines the dimensionality of an Array? View

15 How to check array contains a value or not? View

16 How to create an array/list inside another array/list? View

17 How to get the largest and smallest number in an array? View

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S.no Question Answer

18 How can I return coordinates/indexes of a string in a multidimensional View

array?

19 How do I remove objects from an array in Java? View

20 How does C allocate data items in a multidimensional array? View

21 Get adjacent elements in a two-dimensional array? View

22 C++ How to use and pass a 3-dimensional char array? View

23 Anonymous Array in Java View

24 What is the default value of Array in Java? View

25 How to copy an array into another array? View

26 How to iterate an array in java? View

27 How to merge two sor ted Arrays into a Sor ted Array? View

28 Can we make the array volatile in Java? View

29 What is the logic to reverse the array? View

30 How to get the index of an array element? View

31 Can we extend an array af ter initialization? View

32 How to fill elements (initialize at once) in an array? View

33 Difference between Array and String in Java View

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34 Print all subarrays with 0 sum View

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S.no Question Answer

35 Equilibrium index of an array View

36 How to check array contains a value or not? View

37 How to get the top two numbers from an array? View

38 How to implement 3 Stacks with one Array? View

Top 50 inter view coding question

Easy Problems on Arrays

S.no Question Ar ticle Practice

1 Write a program to reverse the array View Solve

2 Find the minimum and maximum element in an array View Solve

3 Peak Element View Solve

4 Write a program to sor t the given array View Solve

5 Find the Kth largest and Kth smallest number in an array View Solve

6 Find the occurrence of an integer in the array View Solve

7 Sor t the array of 0s, 1s, and 2s View Solve

8 Subarray with given Sum View Solve

9 Move all the negative elements to one side of the array View Solve

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10 Find the Union and Intersection of the two sor ted arrays View Solve
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Medium Problems on Arrays

S.no Question Ar ticle Practice

1 Write a program to cyclically rotate an array by one View Solve

2 Find the missing integer View Solve

3 Count Pairs with given sum View Solve

4 Find duplicates in an array View Solve

5 Sor t an Array using the Quicksor t algorithm View Solve

6 Find common elements in three sor ted arrays View Solve

7 Find the first repeating element in an array of integers View Solve

8 Find the first non-repeating element in a given array of View Solve

integers

9 Subarrays with equal 1s and 0s View Solve

10 Rearrange the array in alternating positive and negative View Solve

items

11 Find if there is any subarray with a sum equal to zero View Solve

12 Find the L argest sum contiguous Subarray View Solve

13 Find the factorial of a large number View Solve

14 Find Maximum Product Subarray View Solve

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15 Find the longest consecutive subsequence View Solve
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S.no Question Ar ticle Practice

16 Find the minimum element in a rotated and sor ted array View Solve

17 Max sum in the configuration View Solve

18 Minimum Platforms View Solve

19 Minimize the maximum difference between the heights View Solve

20 Minimum number of jumps to reach the end View Solve

21 Stock Span problem View Solve

23 Find a triplet that sums to a given value View Solve

23 Smallest positive missing number View Solve

24 Find the row with a maximum number of 1’s View Solve

25 Print the matrix in a Spiral manner View Solve

26 Find whether an array is a subset of another array View Solve

27 Implement two Stacks in an array View Solve

28 Majority Element View Solve

29 Wave Array View Solve

30 Trapping Rainwater View Solve

Hard Problems

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S.no Question Ar ticle Practice

1 Maximum Index View Solve

2 Max sum path in two arrays View Solve

3 Find Missing And Repeating View Solve

4 Stock buy and sell Problem View Solve

5 Pair with the given sum in a sor ted array View Solve

6 Chocolate Distribution Problem View Solve

7 Par tition Equal Subset Sum View Solve

8 Smallest Positive integer that can’t be represented as a sum View Solve

9 Coin Change Problem View Solve

10 Longest Alternating subsequence View Solve

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about arrays

1. What is an array in data structure with example?

An array is a collection of items of the same data type stored at contiguous memor y

locations. Ex. int arr[5] = {1,2,3,4,5};

2. Why array is a data structure?

Arrays store elements of the same type, they are classified as homogeneous data

structures. They can store numbers, strings, characters, boolean values (true and
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false), objects, and so on.

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3. What data structure is an array?

An array is a linear data structure that stores similar elements in contiguous memor y

locations.

4. What are the types of arrays?

There are majorly two types of arrays:

One dimensional array

Multidimensional array

5. How is data stored in an array?

An array is a collection of items of the same data type stored at contiguous memor y

locations or says the elements are stored one af ter another in memor y. An array uses

an index system star ting at 0 and going to (n-1), where n is its size.

6. Difference between array and structure?

The structure can contain variables of different types but an array only contains

variables of the same type.

7. What are the limitations of an array?

An array is a collection of items of the same data type, That means, in an integer array

only integer values can be stored, while in a float array only floating values and

character array can have only characters. Thus, no array can have values of two data

types.

8. What are the advantages of an array?

There are multiple advantages of array data structure and some of them are:

Arrays allow random access to elements. This makes accessing elements by

position faster.

We Arrays
use cookies to ensure
store you havedata
multiple the best
ofbrowsing
similar experience on ourthe
types with website.
sameBy using
name. our site, you acknowledge
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Array data structures are used to implement the other data structures like linked

lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, etc.

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9. What is the purpose of using arrays?

An array is used when several variables of the same type need to be used, and it can

be defined as a sequence of objects of the same type.

10. What is a multidimensional array?

A multi-dimensional array can be termed as an array of arrays that stores

homogeneous data in tabular form. Data in Multidimensional Arrays are stored in

row-major order.

Conclusion

Af ter the discussion, we concluded that arrays are a simple method of accessing

elements of the same type by grouping them and we can find the elements efficiently

by their indexes and can per form different operations using them. Thus, they are

more efficient when it comes to memor y allocation and should be used in all modern

programming languages. So, this becomes a favorite topic for the perspective of the

inter view and most of the companies generally asked about the problems on the

array. For all these reasons, we must have a good knowledge of it.

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Article Tags : Interview Tips, interview-preparation, interview-questions, Arrays,

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Practice Tags : Arrays, Data Structures

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